


Luckless, Lonely Lit Girl

by YoungMrKusuma



Series: The Naekawa Project [1]
Category: Dangan Ronpa
Genre: Alternate Universe - Non-Despair, F/M, Fluff, I'M GONNA MAKE THIS SHIP SAIL IF IT'S THE LAST THING I DO, bby's first fanfic, rarepair
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-10
Updated: 2015-05-10
Packaged: 2018-03-29 18:19:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,797
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3906091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YoungMrKusuma/pseuds/YoungMrKusuma
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fukawa gets a chance at happiness, from the last person she'd expect.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Luckless, Lonely Lit Girl

**Author's Note:**

> Well guys, this is it. My very first fanfic. Let's hope I didn't screw this up too badly. *sweats nervously*
> 
> Concrit would be greatly appreciated! Feel free to tell me what you think (especially if you think it sucks).  
> Also, while I'm at it: THANK YOU BASED SPIKE CHUNSOFT FOR SCHOOL MODE.
> 
> (Link to Tumblr post [here](http://youngmrkusuma.tumblr.com/post/139647796288/the-naekawa-project-part-1-luckless-lonely-lit))

Touko Fukawa had a date.

It wasn't a _prank_ -date, like she was used to getting; of that she was morally sure. Makoto Naegi simply wasn't the sort to do that kind of thing. It probably wasn't a _pity_ -date, either (she hoped), since Naegi had been genuinely nervous when he asked her out, and genuinely excited when she said yes.

Not an _I-lost-a-bet_ -date or an _I'm-trying-to-make-someone-else-jealous_ -date (she had, naturally, accused him of planning both, to which he fervently denied), but an actual, honest-to-god date. A _date_ -date.

She had never been so excited in her entire life.

Of course, things could have been better. It could have been Byakuya-sama, for instance. She hadn't quite given up on that dream, in spite of everything. Or, really, it could have been anyone who wasn't quite so, well... _plain_ , she supposed. Naegi wasn't bad-looking when she thought about it. And he was easily the nicest person she'd ever met. But there was a distinct lack of uniqueness about him. His face was what came to mind when you thought of the word 'average'.

Still, it was better than staying home on a Saturday. And she had to admit, watching him stutter and blush while asking her out had been nothing short of flattering.

“A-alright,” Fukawa had told him. “I-I'll go out with you...if you r-really want...” She'd been fiddling with her hands the whole time, cheeks burning red, unable to look him in the eye. But there had been a huge smile on her lips. For reasons she didn't yet understand, she had been incredibly happy when he asked.

“B-but you better not try anything funny!” She said.

He was supposed to pick her up at six. It was now five-thirty. She had just stepped out of the shower and was raiding her woefully-inadequate wardrobe for something presentable. She had never been a snappy dresser, and she had rarely ever spent her allowance or royalties on fancy clothes, but she was starting to wish she had. It wasn't like she was strapped for cash; she could have afforded whatever she wanted.

She never imagined she'd ever have any use for them, that was the problem. Who was she going to dress up for? Boys in school avoided her like the plague. And it wasn't like the clothes were going to do her any good. She wouldn't have looked attractive either way. She didn't know what Naegi saw in her.

_But he_ did _see something in you_ , a voice inside her said. All at once, her heart began to race. A familiar warmth blossomed on her cheeks.

She realized she was smiling again.

“I've gone insane,” she said aloud, then laughed.

In the end, she had decided to go with something simple. A long yellow one-piece dress with tiny floral prints and a grey sweater with buttons. She sighed when she appraised herself in the mirror. This was about as pretty as she could get.

Maybe she could do something with her hair... Leave it untied, perhaps... Or do it up differently...

“What are you getting so w-worked up for, anyway?” She said, toying with her braids. “He'll probably s-stand you up, or laugh at you for trying too hard, or -”

_Stop that. You know he wouldn't. Anyone else might, but not him. Not Naegi_.

That was true. He wouldn't. It didn't make her feel any better, though. Whether he laughed at her or not, the fact still remained; she was ugly. Whatever it was he saw in her, he was the only one who saw it.

But maybe it didn’t matter. Maybe she didn’t need anyone else to see what he did.

Feeling slightly comforted by the thought, she sat down on her bed and waited. She hoped that when Naegi came – _if_ he came – he wouldn’t be too disappointed when she answered door.

*

Some fifteen minutes later, a cheerful young man came bounding up the street, clearly visible through Fukawa’s bedroom window. His trademark hoodie was gone; Naegi later told her that his parents had insisted he “leave the silly thing at home”. He was dressed casually, in a white polo tee and jeans. As always, there was a smile on his face and he appeared to be carrying... something in his hands. Flowers? A small bouquet of flowers. He had actually brought flowers for her.

A feeling she couldn’t quite name swelled in her chest. She went downstairs to meet him.

Naegi didn't laugh at her like she'd been afraid of, but he did gape when he saw her. Her heart began to sink. He was disappointed after all.

“W-What?” She cast her eyes downwards, ashamed. “I don't look that bad, do I?”

“Ah, no! That's not it.” He said. “You look great! It just took me by surprise, is all. Here. These are for you.” He handed her the flowers. They were a mix of tea roses and carnations. “I hope they’re alright. I’m not very good at this romance stuff, so I wasn’t sure which ones I should get.”

She took them from him and, without being fully aware of it, pressed them close to her chest. They smelt lovely. The fact that Naegi even bothered with them made them lovelier.

“They’re fine. T-Thank you…” Her face was probably a soft shade of pink by now.

Well, if he was disappointed with her, he was at least being polite about it. That nonsense about her looking great was most likely just his way of being courteous. She went back inside to find a vase to put the flowers in before returning to Naegi, who beamed and held his arm out to her.

“Shall we?” He said.

Fukawa’s greatest worry about the date was that it would be filled with moments of awkward silence, but that turned out to be unfounded. Conversations came easily with Naegi around. Throughout the whole trip, he always found something to talk about. A new book he’d read recently. A movie that he thought she should see. Some misadventure he had while in school.

But most of all, he asked about her. How she felt. How her weekend was. How she was doing in class and whether or not anyone was picking on her. It wasn’t just forced politeness, either; he really listened to what she had to say. It was as if he truly did care about her. She knew he considered her a friend (and she had, in turn, done the same for him), but now it was starting to seem like he felt a little more strongly than that.

Nobody had ever been this nice to her. Not her parents. Not her classmates. Not even the pranksters who treated her with false kindness only to humiliate her in front of everyone. Was she starting to like Naegi? She honestly didn’t know.

She cast a sidelong glance at him. His face was what came to mind when you thought of the word ‘average’, but he wasn’t bad-looking at all. In many respects, he was actually quite handsome. When he was paying attention to her every word, or flashing one of his adorable, world-illuminating smiles, he looked… sweet. It was different from Togami, who was tall, striking and sexy. Naegi was handsome in another way.

Kind, thoughtful eyes. That warm, sincere smile. The way that stupidly endearing tuff of hair stood on his head no matter what the occasion.

He was telling her about some crazy mess Hagakure had gotten him involved in. Something about Aliens and Hamburgers. She was barely even listening. Her eyes were fixed on his features. Oh god, he looked so cute...

She caught herself mid-way. Had she really thought that?

“Bu-But, Byakuya-sama...!” She blurted.

“Huh?” Naegi's voice brought her back to reality. She blushed again as she realized she’d spoken out loud.

“It’s nothing.” she said. He gave her a quizzical look, and then continued with his story.

They got to their destination about ten minutes later. She had half-expected him to take her to a fancy restaurant, and half-expected him to take her to a cheap fast-food joint. What she got was something in the middle; a family steakhouse she’d somehow never heard of before (It was in her neighbourhood, but she had so rarely ventured outside that she’d might as well have been a stranger here). Not quite what she was hoping for, but not too bad either. They went inside.

From the more craven and more paranoid part of her mind came the fear that Naegi was going to pull a fast one over her and abandon her halfway through the meal – _Sure, let’s order something expensive and then leave the poor girl here with the bill so she can pay for everything herself_ , she thought bitterly. _Wouldn’t that be a riot_ – but he never did. Naegi was, however, trying a little too hard at being a gentleman. He held the door open for her, then pulled out a chair for her, then let her order first. He sat ramrod straight in his seat and made very sure his elbows didn’t touch the table when he ate. Fukawa had been suspicious of his behaviour at first, but when she saw just how tense and nervous he had been, she caught on and started laughing. A wild idea came to her head.

“Naegi-kun, you didn’t _memorise_ an etiquette book just for this date, did you?” she asked, in between giggles.

With his knife and fork still in the air, a dab of barbeque sauce on his chin, Naegi looked down at his plate in embarrassment.

“Is it really that obvious?”

She laughed again. Over the past few weeks, she had seen him reading the same book – _Table Manners made easy_ – at school over and over, all while occasionally stealing little glances at her. Now she knew why.

“You really didn’t have to do all this for me, you know.” It made her happy that he did, though.

Setting his utensils down, he smiled shyly.

“I was trying to impress you,” he said.

*

In the end, Naegi footed the bill. It made him despair a bit, how much lighter his wallet felt, but that was okay. All that mattered to him was that Fukawa had a good time. They left the restaurant.

As far as he could tell, the date was going great. She didn’t seem to mind that he couldn’t take her anywhere fancier (he really, really wished he could). And he had made her laugh, albeit at his own expense. It was kind of funny when he thought about it; he was doing his damnedest not to look like such a dork in front of her, and that was what he ended up doing. Ironically enough, this was exactly what was needed to win her over.

Most of the doom and gloom in her demeanour was gone. She didn’t exactly look cheerful, but she didn’t look so glum anymore, either. He wished she’d smile more. She was pretty whenever she did.

“So, um...where are we going next?” She asked him.

“I was thinking that we could catch a movie,” he said. There was a theatre not too far from where they were. A troubled expression crossed Fukawa's features, but she said okay.

They were at the booth five minutes later, trying to decide what they should see. They weighed and discarded two Sci-fi films, one Horror film, an Animated Kids’ movie and a Romance based on a novel - one that Fukawa surprisingly refused to see, apparently because the novel itself was an “asinine piece of pretentious trash from a talentless hack of a writer”.

That didn't leave many options left. The only other films remaining were a Historical-Drama, a Comedy and a -

“Fukawa-san?”

She was standing by one of the posters, hands clasped in front of her skirt, shuffling her feet like a child who had done something bad. He went over to her.

“What’s wrong?”

She seemed terribly embarrassed. “I... I found something I want to see...” He quickly understood. She was afraid he would judge her for her choice of movie. He expected her to launch into another one of her (Rants? Tirades? Hissy fits? He didn’t know what to call them) again – like she usually did when she thought someone was about to make fun of her – but this time, she was oddly subdued.

“Promise you won’t laugh at me?”

He took her by the shoulders gently. “I won’t. I promise.”

She turned to the poster on her right.

Her decision had astounded and confused him at first. Then he remembered a conversation he had with Fukawa about her disastrous first date. She had decided on seeing a movie that day too; a Seijun Suzuki Triple feature. _Branded to kill_ , _Tokyo Drifter_ and _Fighting Elegy_. All three were action films.

He started to grin. He should have seen it coming.

“W-We... We d-don’t have to s-see it if you don’t want to!” She stammered.

He flashed at her a reassuring smile. Immediately, she began to calm down. “I’ll go get the tickets,” he said.

The poster read _Shotgun Samurai 6_.

*

_Shotgun Samurai 6_ would, as it turned out, have very little to do with Samurais. It did, however, involve a lot of shotguns. The main character was a hilarious pastiche of every clichéd action movie hero combined into one. In his violent quest to bring down a Yakuza gang boss, he had killed no less than a hundred people on screen and caused no less than two dozen explosions. There was never any Shotgun Samurai 1 to 5. The film was meant as a parody, and the 6 in the title was there as part of the joke.

Naegi had to admit. This film was pretty fun.

Fukawa, unfortunately, didn’t seem to be enjoying herself as much as she should. Not because the movie was bad – she watched raptly whenever the hero was on screen, giggled at the intentionally cheesy one-liners, and _ooh_ ed and _aah_ ed along with the rest of the largely male audience whenever someone was blasted.

The thing was, she kept turning back to look at him every five seconds.

At first, he thought she was worried that he didn’t like the film. Then he noticed her eyes. Even in the dark of the theatre, he could see something akin to fear in them. Like she was afraid he’d do something. At the film’s one-hour mark, she kept muttering something to herself over and over. It didn’t sound like a grumble or a curse. More like a prayer.

He thought back to what she told him about her first date. The boy she was with left halfway through the movie. Was that what she was scared of? That he’d walk off and abandon her too?

_Please don’t leave_. That was what she said. She was shaking now, and it affected her words.

_Please don’t leave. Please don’t leave. Please don’t leave please don’t leave please don’t leave please don’t leave please don’t pleasedon’tpleasedon’tpleasedontpleasedont_ -

He placed his hand on hers. She stiffened, and turned to him wide-eyed, like a deer caught in the headlights. There were tears streaking down her cheeks.

“Na...e...gi?”

“I’m not going anywhere,” he said. His voice was firm, but gentle.

He kept his hand on hers throughout the entire movie. At some point, she interlaced her fingers with his and leaned in to rest her head on his shoulder. On her lips was the loveliest smile he’d ever seen.

*

Naegi was in high spirits when they stepped out of the theatre. He stretched his arms out like a cat.

“Ah, that was fun! We ought to do this again so– oh, hey.”

She had wrapped her arms around him in a hug, cutting him off. In spite of the sharp chill that had settled into the evening air, she couldn’t remember the last time she felt so warm.

“Thank you,” she whispered, trembling slightly. “Thank you.”

Byakuya Togami was the furthest thing from her mind right now; Fukawa had fallen in love all over again. When Naegi didn’t react to the gesture, her negativity reared its ugly unwanted head once more

( _now you’ve done it you stupid girl you’ve gone and creeped him out with all your weirdness by being so forward why the hell couldn’t you wait and not be such a colossal fuck-up he’s the only one who’s ever been good to you and you couldn’t even keep him for one day you drove him away by being so pathetic you stupid stup-_ )

then he hugged her back, holding her tight.

“Don’t mention it.” He blushed. They stayed together like that for quite some time.

He held her hand all the way back home.

**Author's Note:**

> God, I didn't realize how short this piece was until I actually put it up here. Oh well. ┐(´~｀)┌
> 
> I may post more chapters of this in the future, if I ever get the inspiration and the response is good. Thanks everyone, for at least reading this far. Let me know in the comments what you thought.


End file.
